Below you will find 4 habits that offer great stress relief, compared to the minimal effort it takes to make them.
1. If you need to find a physical item or information before an upcoming meeting or event, find it right now (once you think about it)
Sometimes we say, "Before I go to ..., I have to find or do ...". Maybe you need to print something, bring some documentation to the appointment, find a receipt for the item you will be returning to the store, and so on.
Finding these things can take an unpredictable time. Thus, you can clear the mental mess by instantly doing what you had to do.
Of course, exceptions are cases where you are doing something much more important and when the cost of potentially forgetting about your small task is probably not as significant as the cost of interrupting the work you are doing.
2. Before you start a Zoom call or leave home for a "date" or a meeting of friends, set an alarm
When we have a close encounter, we often think, "I have to keep an eye on the clock." This will keep you constantly distracted from doing other things. Solve this problem by setting an alarm, in order to allow yourself to dive into another task, without fear of losing your sense of time and being late.
3. Identify when a decision is irrelevant
Mental labeling of tasks as irrelevant gives you flexibility. If you tend to be harsh with yourself or are a perfectionist, then you do not need to apply those skills to a not-so-important task.
4. Plan for the most likely thing to go wrong
Planning for anything that can go wrong is inefficient, exhausting, and frankly, impossible. We can not worry in a state of calm, or reduce all uncertainty to zero.
A good middle ground is to plan for either the thing that is most likely to go wrong, or the worst thing that can go wrong. This strategy avoids the pitfalls of being blindly optimistic and will give you plenty of practice in creative problem solving.
Do the planning for the only thing that is most likely to go wrong. You will find that treating your biggest concern helps you mentally give up on smaller worries. People in anxiety sometimes get so overwhelmed by the volume of all their worries that they do not alleviate any of them.
Burimi: Psychology Today
